Late April and May mark cobia time in the Beaufort area. Each year anglers from all over the state converge on the broad river to see if they can tangle with one of these brutes. This past weekend we headed down to try our luck. This was our first trip to the broad river and after an unsuccessful trip I’ve spoken with several people that caught fish and compiled a few things that may increase the likelihood of catching one.
Chumming: This is a must, not only using chum bags of frozen chum, but using a sabiki to catch live herring and using them for chum and bait. Hanging a chum bag at the surface and putting a chum bag on the bottom to cover the water column also helps bring them in.
Take a variety of bait: Keeping your options open when it comes to bait is a good idea. Cobia will eat many different types of bait including, but not limited to, crabs, eels, herring, menhaden, mullet and squid. Putting out a variety increases your chances of hooking up.
Fishing the entire water column: Try to keep some bait on the surface, some mid level in the water column and some baits on the bottom. You never know where you may hook a cobia. Many times you will see the fish swimming on the surface, but just as often you will hook a cobia down deep.
Keep a casting rod rigged and ready: Keeping a rod ready with a bucktail for a sight casting opportunity is a great idea as well. Many times you will see a fish on the surface and by the time you rig something up, the fish is gone. You need to be able to react quickly and efficiently.
The fish should be in the river through the month of May and hopefully I will get one more chance to get down and put a few things that I have learned to use before they are gone. I will say that everyone in the river was very friendly, especially for fishing in such close quarters. If you get a chance to go, I hope some of the tips we picked up from other more seasoned cobia fishermen will help you jump into the action.
Andy Pickett,
charlestonFishing.Com</b